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Netflix Is for 'Blobby People'

By Jason Farago, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 3, 2009 7:30 AM CDT

(Newser) – Like 10.6 million Americans, Time film critic Richard Corliss has a subscription to Netflix, which sends everything from Bollywood megamusicals to BBC miniseries to his mailbox. "No question," Corliss admits, "Netflix serves a need"—it's super cheap and stocked with titles. But the DVD delivery service has killed off independent stores run by Tarantino-like obsessives, while we turn into "those blobby people in WALL•E."

Not long ago you could ask a video clerk for a recommendation and discover a forgotten foreign masterpiece, but when Corliss rented an Indian drama, he was told that he'd also like "Season 1 of Scrubs." And while Netflix's new on-demand service may provide instant gratification, that may not be such a good thing. "You'll be what the online corporate culture wants you to be," Corliss writes: "a passive, inert receptacle for its products."

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A Netflix customer prepares to watch the movie 'True Lies' at her home in Palo Alto, Calif., Oct. 22, 2007. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, file)

Mei Michelson prepares to return movies to Netflix from her home in Palo Alto, Calif., Monday, Oct. 22, 2007. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

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In a deep recession, Netflix has also taught film fans that renting a movie or TV series not only is way less expensive than buying but also takes up no shelf space when you move from your foreclosed home into your parents' basement. - Richard Corliss

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